[zimmyzam]

Okay, so for those who remember- my parents did NOT want rats.

At all.

But finally, I convinced them otherwise. They were only grudgingly agreeing, but that was okay with me- they said yes. Well, mum was sick of going to pet stores 'just to look', so the next one I went to would be the one we got the rats from. And the place we went only had albinos. I was all like, awwwwww! As I picked out the two youngest, prolly about 2 months old, but, as we were in the checkout line, my mom was... not sharing the same vibe as me about my new girls. And she was expressing herself. Loudly. "How on EARTH could you have picked the most UGLY ones here? I mean, REALLY, they're HIDEOUS!" blah blah blah (she was a bit stress-crazy, so I forgive her :3).

~Three months later, she will vouch for any domestic rat at all. She tells all her friends how absolutely WONDERFUL and ADORABLE they are, how they have their own little personalities, how they're the perfect size and want to play and all their good qualities. I mean, she's in LOVE with them! It's hilarious!!

Does anybody else know what I mean??

 

[Meliss]

yep I know exactely what you mean. When my sister first brought her rats here I was scared-- and then my heart opened up to them and now I love them so much. I have three inherited rats from my sister used to be four but the one we had to put to sleep. So now I have one male and two girls. I want to get more eventually.

 

[dragonegg]

Yes, that's how it is. I only bought rats because my son wanted them (he's 9, so I knew I had to do most of the chores of keeping them), but now they are more mine than his...and I turned rat-crazy! I do think they are the most perfect pet ever, and I can't believe how many years I wasted not having any.

 

[junior_j]

Im the same my mum was like why dont u get a rat instead of a cockitil...i was erm.. lol
But now my girls are my life and ive only had my 3 for ten days ..my dad who is not animal friendly(Would never ever hurt them but just cant be botherd as he works loads ect) will take photos of them and go aww how cute lol..now my mum also has 3 rats and went and brought a huge 3 tier critters cage for some dumbos that she wants lol we have 1 empty cage now which we are gettin some more for next year lol..
Jess x

 

[ration1802]

That's exactly how my mum was. She claimed she was 'terrified' of them and gave me the 'when you get your own house' line. Well, I went one day and just bought Kain (my first) home - and a month later she was encouraging me to get another :lol:

They really do just wheedle their way into almost anyones heart

 

[jellybeanqueen]

i totally know what you mean.
after the whole fight thing i had with my mother trying to make her allow me to have rats, she thinks they're cute now.
she brags about their intelligence to her friends as well, and it's hard to believe she used to be so afraid of them and adamant about me not getting any! :roll:

rats are amazing, period. <3

 

[AZratkeeper]

wow my mom was the one who wanted rats and it kinda rubbed off on me and my brother and right know my brother has 2 rats and i have 36 rats

 

[Macabri]

I guess I got lucky. After I got my first rat I took her down with me to visit my mum. She adored her so much that she went and got a rat later that day. (Mind you, she didn't go out with the intention of buying a rat, but lucked into a real sweety at a pet store while running errands.)

 

[Vixie]

My Nanny grew up on a farm where rats were TEH ENEMIEEEE!!! But I bring the rats with me whenever I spend the weekend over there...


...yeah, her favorite is Acid. She loves how 'different' Acid looks and she kinda relates to Acid being nearly blind(fully developed cataracts now, and my Nanny doesn't see very well either). She loves bragging to her sister(who is deathly scared of rats and live some hundreds of miles up in northern Louisiana close to Mississippi) about how she has her 'grandrats' over.
:3

 

[shawnieshortcake]

Yep. My mom HATED the rats at first. She didn't even want me to have them and she kept saying that if they started to smell or anything I would have to give them away. She was just looking for reasons to get them out of her house. She thought they were gross, ugly, dirty. One day I got her to come in my room to see them. I let her feed them some bananas and pet them. I told her all about them and how nice they were. By the time I was done showing her she was all like "Ohh..so they're just misunderstood huh? But they're really smart and a lot friendlier and loving than other small animals. They're kinda like little dogs huh? They really like you." Now my mom gets it. :]

 

[Sami]

Sadly my mom will probably never meet my rats, unless she comes and visits us here in Virginia in the next year or two, or unless I get more rats after these two pass on of old age... but she's seen pictures and thinks they're really cute. She was surprised to learn how affectionate and smart they are. See, at first I wanted a ferret, but they're so much work that I decided one day that maybe a rat would make a good pet instead.

I told my mom over the phone and she said "Yeah, but rats wont bond to you like a ferret would, will they?" I said I didn't know, but I liked the idea of having a pet that could fit in my pocket, plus ferrets are a lot more expensive and we don't really have enough money.

3 Months later I'm wondering why I didn't consider rats in the first place. :3
I really misunderstood them at first... Before I considered them as pets I thought the whole thing about them being smart was nonsense, and that they didn't seem much smarter than Hamsters or Gerbils, plus I thought they smelled awful. I was so wrong on all accounts! They're incredibly smart.. maybe even smarter than ferrets, plus they don't smell at all if their cage has good ventilation, and is cleaned regularly. They're the best. Especially my little Dust, who loves cuddling into my hood. Gohma is more adventurous and hates to be picked up and held, but that's ok as long as we always have Dust to snuggle with. ^^

 

[Squeak]

I'm quite surprised with my mom. When I was just twelve I asked her about getting two rats. I had researched a bit about them and really wanted some. She was completely uptight about the whole thing. I printed out some 'good' research to show her. She said yes over a short period of time.

Next three days, I had two gorgeous boys. Now, a couple years later, my mom owns two rats in her house with my dad, while I own four with my boyfriend in our apartment.

It really surprises you when someone you least expect changes their opinion.

 

[Jingles]

my mom was the same way.......it started as "**** NO!!!! ABSOULOUTLY NOT!!!!GET THEM OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!!VARIOUS SCREAMS.....quite horrible......

to


Her ranting about their little personalities and how she's so smart and cute.....and they did this today when you wer gone.....

well i'm a student so i'm at school all day, which is why i got krinkle...because i was able to stay home all day a play with rachel....but then had to go back to school..


came home with one and snuck another one in .....3months later....blah blah blah.......


well to sum it up my mother was at home all day drinking wine.......and now because of the little ratties ......she gets up and says good morning to them and makes them breakfast and plays with them.....still drinking but not so heavily....

well i thought it helped her...

 

[zimmyzam]

XD

Ratty conversion success stories! Right here, available for all you people who are just waiting for your parents to change their mind!

Although she thinks it's crazy that I want another one... or five.... or sixteen... And I don't have another cage for Q time... Although I might have enough money pretty soon... =D

Keep the stories coming!

 

[twitch]

man where to start. well, i wasn't supposed to bring rats home. dad said we had enough pets. so i snuck in pocket and on a car ride home from school about 2-3 weeks after i got her (she went to school and everywhere with me) dad finally met pocket told me he wasn't paying for her care for anything, then said he thought "she thinks you're her mom..." a couple years later i caught him feeding the babies that spider and snicketts had some grapes and sooking them (i quickly ducked back downstairs before he caught me, i think he would have been embarrassed).

my mom wasn't a hard sell on bringing home a new pet, at least she never said anything to dad about pocket. but she was afraid to touch them, saying that they would bite her. it didn't take long for her to have a shoulder buddy though either. and then she started bragging about them, with dad adding a few stories about them if he was around at the time as well). i'm not sure if she missed having them around her not, she never got any of her own but she does have quite a few dogs, cats, horses and fish already.

i did convert one of the members here to rat0dom. she had me watch her mouse for a while for her and fell in love with pocket and lyiint. she got me dust and myght for christmas that year, feel in love with them while she was housing them before the holiday and then got her own, she has had rats ever since.

i have also shown rats to people that claimed they were afraid of them or thought their tails were gross. they handled my babes, petted them and within minutes started sooking them and were amazed how soft their tails were.

i have been stopped in walks to have girls fawn over the rat on my shoulder, had a huge man squeal like a girl while his tiny little wife held and cuddled a rat from me (when he calmed down his wife got him to pet my rat and he admitted that they weren't that bad really).

my landlord was more concerned about my cats then my rats and was actually quite interested in them (until he came over when the cage was overdue for a cleaning--i'm afraid it left a bad impression but was completely my fault).

i've had people that had rats that didn't really know anything about them visit mine and be inspired to take better care of theirs and work harder and have more patience with their problem rat and get more.

i'm slowly converting my boyfriend's mother to ratdom. she grew up on a farm too and is not a fan of the rat. her husband however spoils his grandfurkids just as bad as he does his human grandkid and my son (who he calls his grandkid). i just have to convince him to bring healthy treats like fruit instead of cheezzits...

i may be helping set my aunt and cousins with their first rats within the next few months as well. i think my aunt wants them more then the kids but is waiting for the kids to want them so she can use them as an excuse to bring in pets. my aunt's mind works in odd ways but i can decipher it.

all in all, my rats have affected the lives of innumerable people and other rats. they're contagious. and better for you then chips! :lol: